VIDEO: Lansingburgh High School graduate arrested after threatening current students on Facebook

TROY -- A 20-year-old former student is under arrest facing a felony charge for making threats against Lansingburgh High School students on Facebook as a way to protect his girlfriend.

Police got word from a concerned resident about the post -- in which Kyle Pipino threatened to run over students with his truck and use a knife and a gun on others -- at approximately 1:30 p.m. Thursday, said Capt. John Cooney.

"Knowing that some would say it's just Facebook, he knows he will get caught, so it's probably not serious. Troy detectives did take that threat seriously," Cooney said. "If in fact we did not locate the subject immediately and deal with the threats that were made, it would take a substantial police presence at the school until the subject was located and spoken to."

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Cooney said Pipino admitted that he was "protecting his girlfriend," and whether it was through intimidation on Facebook or a physical confrontation is yet to be determined. Cooney wasn't sure if the girlfriend was a student at Lansingburgh.

Detectives went to 312 Roosevelt Ave. and called Pipino out with a loud speaker. He wasn't home at the time, but the resident of the house did help police locate him. The relation between the resident and Pipino is unclear.

According to Pipino's Facebook page, he is a 2010 graduate of Lansingburgh High School. While the police report indicates he is unemployed, his Facebook page says he is a vocalist and guitarist for the band Dawn of the Hero.

The obscenity-laced post included "mowing down the kids with my truck," taking "a knife and gut you FROM GROIN TO SCALP LIKE A ... ANIMAL" and wanting to see how tough the students are "when you have a gun pointed in your face."

Cooney said the investigation did not indicate Pipino had access to a gun but that threats made on Facebook or anywhere else "alarm the people ... cause panic ... and cause people to take their children out of school."

"Mr. Pipino, by use of Facebook, made statements which deserved what happened here today, which is a full deployment of police resources, a full criminal investigation by Troy detectives and an arrest for a very serious crime," Cooney said.

Pipino faces a Class B felony for making a terrorist threat which carries a sentence of up to 15 to 25 years in prison. He will remain at Troy Police Department Headquarters until his arraignment later this morning.